'''Slavery''' is the practice of owning of [[sapience|sapient]] beings as property. On Earth this practice was largely abolished in the 19th century. Slaves have historically been employed for many purposes, including as soldiers (such as Egyptian Mamluks and Ottoman Janissaries), but slaves have mostly been used as domestic servants and basic laborers. Fine details about Slavery have varied from culture to culture, for example Slavery in European Colonies the 16th to mid 19th century was characterized by a [[Racism|Racial]] belief that black people were fit to be enslaved, a preconception which did not exist in (among other states) the [[Roman Empire]].

'''Slavery''' is the practice of owning of [[sapience|sapient]] beings as property. On Earth this practice was largely abolished in the 19th century. Slaves have historically been employed for many purposes, including as soldiers (such as Egyptian Mamluks and Ottoman Janissaries), but slaves have mostly been used as domestic servants and basic laborers. Fine details about Slavery have varied from culture to culture, for example Slavery in European Colonies the 16th to mid 19th century was characterized by a [[Racism|Racial]] belief that black people were fit to be enslaved, a preconception which did not exist in (among other states) the [[Roman Empire]].

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The term is used informally to refer to other situations in which people are forced to work very hard under heavy control by higher-ranking figures in conditions that are comparable to slavery, even though the people involved are not classified as property (such as serfdom in Tsarist Russia before 1861, victims of human trafficing or various forced labor programs employed by the [[Nazi Germany]] involving eastern europeans).

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The term is used informally to refer to other situations in which people are forced to work very hard under heavy control by higher-ranking figures in conditions that are comparable to slavery, even though the people involved are not classified as property (such as serfdom in Tsarist Russia before 1861, victims of human trafficing or various forced labor programs employed by the [[Nazi Germany]] involving eastern europeans (''Zwangsarbeiter'')).